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CONDUCTOR
Michael directs vocal ensembles worldwide, conducting choirs across diverse musical traditions over the course of his career.
He is currently producing an international choir album with Playing for Change Foundation, a nonprofit organization that creates positive social change through a network of music and arts education programs. The choir is made up of young musicians and professionals from Africa, Asia, and the Americas. It's first album of original songs focused on social change is set to be released in 2026. During the pandemic, the ensembles collaborated to create a virtual reality 360 video featuring musicians from Nepal, Mexico, Ghana, and the US.
Michael recently directed and premiered work at the Coralifornia Festival, a music festival of ensembles throughout Mexico. Michael has also worked with various ensembles in the USA, playing in a key role in the development of the first ever Hindu choir in New York with Grammy-winner Chandrika Tandon. The choir was recognized in the NY Times, as well as invitation to perform at the World Culture Festival in Berlin.
As a composer, Michael has written music for choirs as well as original songs for children and families for theatrical and media productions in Los Angeles. His work includes the children's shows Maestro's Treehouse, Ruby's Button, and Canción de Los Tsachilas, a treble-voiced choral arrangement in celebration of the Tsa'chila indigenous community in Ecuador, with whom Michael lived and volunteered. The piece has been performed at choir festivals across the USA and proceeds of the publication go to supporting the preservation and promotion of Tsa'chila culture.
For guest conductor inquiries, please contact here.
ARTS EDUCATOR
Michael's career has been dedicated to serving children and families through education, arts programming, and the development of community-based initiatives. With years of experience as an arts educator, nonprofit founder, executive, and professional development facilitator, he continues to consult with organizations that focus on supporting youth and strengthening communities. He believes that children are the greatest hope for a better future—and that investing in their well-being is one of the most meaningful ways that adults can build a more compassionate and peaceful world.
In 2008, Michael shifted his career as a professional singer & actor in New York City to founding the nonprofit initiative, Project Creo. The name Creo—meaning "I believe" and "I create" in Spanish—reflected the organization’s mission to help young people build self-confidence and inspire positive change through the arts. The project took him to Ecuador, where he led the development of the arts center currently known as Artisteca, created in partnership with CRISFE of Banco Pichincha and Diners Club International. The center continues to offer programming for youth, families, and educators. As the organization expands to new locations across the country, Michael remains involved as a consultant, supporting professional development of teaching artists and strategic growth.
After his work in Ecuador, Michael worked in India at the Shanti Bhavan Children’s Home with the nonprofit Artists Striving to End Poverty. He supported the development of Maya, an original Broadway-style musical for youth, in collaboration with Teach for India. While in India he served as a teaching artist in India’s public school system and facilitated educator training. For six years, he worked with Lead for Ghana as a pedagogy specialist, preparing new teachers to serve in rural communities as part of a national fellowship program focused on educational equity. His work in arts education also brought him to China, Peru, Brazil, Nepal, and Mexico, where he has led various education initiatives.
In the U.S., Michael served as Co-Artistic Director at Inner-City Arts in Los Angeles, an arts center for youth located in Skid Row/Downtown LA. As a member of the executive team, he served across programming, which included organizational strategic planning, directly teaching and mentoring youth, producing professional theater and media for young audiences, teen events, as well as partnering with the Skid Row Arts Alliance to provide performance space to arts nonprofits that serve the Skid Row community. During his tenure, he supported the development of teaching artist training, and launched a youth wellness initiative to provide free mental health services to youth in partnership with Para Los Niños. In New York City, Michael worked with the Metropolitan Opera Guild as a teaching artist, served as a director with TADA! Youth Theater, facilitated music programming for clients of United Cerebral Palsy of NYC, and led the Summer Conservatory at the Tony Award-winning Broadway for All.
For nonprofit consultant inquiries, please contact here.
CLIENTS + ASSOCIATES
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